Eli Manning is the last man standing from the marquee Quarterback Class of 2004 without a new deal.
Philip Rivers will have a chance to be a Charger For Life after signing a four-year, $84 million extension with $65 million guaranteed.
Ben Roethlisberger will have a chance to be a Steeler For Life thanks to his four-year, $87.4 million extension that figures to guarantee him $65 million over the next three years.
Batter up, New York Football Giants.
The market has been set, for both the club and for agent Tom Condon.
It is time for both sides to come to their financial senses and reward the greatest quarterback in Giants history, before the start of the regular season.
Manning has won two Super Bowls, same as Big Ben, which is two more than Rivers has won. And he might have three rings if Plaxico Burress hadn’t shot himself in the leg.
And because he plays in this demanding market, with this cost of living, because he has never missed a game, because he is the apple of Tom Coughlin’s eye, because he is the ultimate Giant in a Frank Gifford kind of way, because he is the Giants, Manning deserves to be the highest paid of the three.
And you can include Russell Wilson’s four-year, $87.6 million extension with $61,542,000 guaranteed as another standard.
The Giants much more often than not do the right thing, and I would bet Geno Smith $600 that they will announce a new deal for their dream quarterback before he duels Tony Romo in Dallas.
Manning has expressed his desire to be a Giant For Life again and again and has been Good Soldier Eli Manning every bit as expertly as Bad Comedian Eli Manning.
There were skeptics who railed that then-Giants GM Ernie Accorsi gave up too much in the blockbuster draft-day trade with the Chargers for Manning, and here we are 11 years later, and there are two Lombardi Trophies standing proudly in the glass case of the lobby inside the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
And here is Manning, as hungry and driven to win his third Super Bowl championship as he was his first and second. Here is Manning, working diligently over the offseason to strengthen his 34-year-old arm after mastering a new system a year ago.
Chad Pennington was the Jets quarterback when Manning arrived. Then, for a short time, Kellen Clemens. Then, for one season, Brett Favre. Then Mark Sanchez. Then Smith. Now Ryan Fitzpatrick.
It is understated and underappreciated what a luxury it is for a head coach and a franchise to not only have stability at the most important position, but also to have a leader who is first one to work, last one to leave, and has started 178 consecutive games, including playoffs. And never ever embarrasses the organization.
Still the same guy every day. Just like Derek Jeter used to be.
“You look to him as one of those guys who, if he’s unfazed, then we’re all unfazed,” Odell Beckham Jr. said. “If something’s worrying him, he’s probably going to come tell us about it, and we’ll get it corrected and move from there.
“I’m definitely blessed to be in the situation I’m in to be able to come in and have a quarterback who, at the end of his career, is going to have some pretty accomplished things that he’s done. So to be able to come out and play with a guy like that from Year 1 until whenever, is definitely a big thing.”
Whenever isn’t definitive enough. And it isn’t as good as forever.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Pay The Mann already.